


This Is The Sound Of War

by WhyDontWeBegin



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Gen, Half-Elves, I HAD A THOUGHT, I'm just taking one of my dnd kids and, Night Terrors, No Dungeons & Dragons Knowledge Required, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Temporary Amnesia, no beta we just die, now this is a thing, pure FFXIV content, so is naming, sort of crossover? not really, summaries are hard, the first chapter is the only part that's not like, violently yeeting him into eorzea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24426421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyDontWeBegin/pseuds/WhyDontWeBegin
Summary: He was called "Merlin."Though it was not the name of his birth, it was the name he went by. Merlin, pursuing the mystery of his past.Until he woke up in a strange land which did not know him any more than he knew it, and unintentionally gained the title of "hero."
Kudos: 3





	This Is The Sound Of War

**Author's Note:**

> hoohhh. first off, huge thanks to [shoutz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoutz) for enabling me with this! she loves Merlin as much as I do, it seems :P not to mention shoutz is also a great writer and I encourage reading her work!
> 
> Please note that the main character of this work has very dark things in his past that will come up in this, and I will try to put content warnings where I believe they are needed. With all of that said! I realize there is little context to this, but it will be built as I continue :) please do enjoy your first view of Merlin, a half-elven sorcerer of draconic heritage!
> 
> and before I forget: the title is pulled from Sound of War by Tommee Profitt :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title of this chapter comes from Winter's Song, also by Tommee Profitt :)

_“We will break you yet, Merlin. Your allies from Chronos cannot save you.”_

_“Bold of you to assume I want to be saved.”_

_Everything hurt. Everything, everything, everything— it hurt. His side burned. His shoulder ached. His muscles screamed in protest at every movement, head fuzzy._

_Merlin barely registered the scream he heard as his own._

_(He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’ move, he couldn’t escape, no, nonono, not again nOT AGAIN—)_

Merlin woke with a start, wheezing and choking on nothing, struggling for air. He was glad he’d chosen to stay so far away from his companions, though that meant precious little, considering they were in a cave-in. Blessedly, however, they remained asleep while he struggled.

He felt helpless and weak, right now. He remembered how vividly his body had protested when he first regained his flesh, how skinny he had been. Matari and Marco had already seen his scars, most of which he couldn’t remember getting. (Some of them looked methodical, to him, like they had been reopened several times before they could fully heal. He wondered if it had been torture. It certainly would explain some of his dreams lately— not to mention the incident with the memory orb. He remembered quite vividly how he’d felt, frantic and confused though he had been, no matter how much he didn’t want to.)

Merlin hated this. He _hated_ not knowing. Who was he, really? Who was Travaran? Why did he go by the name Merlin? What was—

“Chronos,” he mumbled, the word falling from his lips unbidden. “What are you?... What do you _mean?_ …”

The tunnel around him yielded no answer, not that he expected one. Merlin pulled out his amulet, tracing the symbol made with the Zircon and Tanzanite gently with one finger. It matched his tattoo closely, save for a few details. What _was_ it? What did it _mean?_ He wished he knew. If he knew, it would make his search for answers so much easier. Not to say that the man with the crystal ball hadn’t _helped_ , but—

Maybe the word “Chronos” was the missing piece, he realized. Like the city, sunken in the desert and become the home of the mummy lords. Maybe he’d been looking in the wrong places this whole time—or hadn’t known what to look for at all. _“Could it be? Could this be…is_ Chronos _really the missing piece?”_

“Merlin?”

Merlin started, looking up at Matari and blinking several times. She furrowed her brow, but said nothing more, and he looked back at his amulet before stowing it away under his shirt once more. “It’s nothing, Matari. Just talking to myself again. We- we ought to get back to digging.”

He knew she was aware more was going on. She always was, with that list of hers, but at the very least she didn’t seem like she was about to pry. He was grateful for that— even _if_ it was because she knew he wouldn’t respond well to it because of the list.

Merlin felt restless. He still had no answers. Who was he? What was Chronos? Matari had shot him concerned looks throughout the day as they had continued to try and dig their way out of the tunnel they were trapped in. Looks he had quite firmly ignored, keeping to himself. To his thoughts.

Though she could easily give him the answers he sought, his pride would not be satisfied should the answers be handed to him. Something within screamed that this was a journey he had to undertake on his own, even if he had those who knew watching over him. (His mind drifted to Luvon and it _ached_. But no. He was _not_ Travaran. He was not the man who had been Luvon’s fiancé. All that was here was a husk, was Merlin.)

He hid a fond smile with the upturned collar of his shirt as he listened to Matari and Orchis talk. At the very least, he could’ve done far worse for companions. He _did_ enjoy the company of the druid, short though his time with Orchis had been, and time had shown him that Matari cared deeply for Merlin, Leo, and Marco. He gave a small smirk and an arched brow when Orchis made a jab at him, but did not return the favor. Once, perhaps, but not now.

That night, he dreamt of starshowers.

**Author's Note:**

> perhaps, if you like this, and you are into FFXIV, you may want to join this [discord?](https://discord.gg/c8Yee9S) the people there can be somewhat aggressively friendly, but they're all great people <3


End file.
